Sara is one of the stars in the upcoming Rings of Power series (Picture: Amazon / Getty)

Rings of Power actress Sara Zwangobani branded the lack of diversity represented in the Lord of the Rings franchise was ‘difficult’ to watch when she was younger.

The new TV series for Amazon Prime Video, which was developed by showrunners JD Payne and Patrick McKay, is set thousands of years before theevents of Peter Jackson’s film trilogy.

The highly anticipated prequel boasts an all-star cast, including Sir Lenny Henry, Cynthia Addai-Robinson, Robert Aramayo and Em Horvath.

While typically the Middle-earth characters were assumed to be white, with the Lord of the Rings movies predominantly featuring a white cast, Rings of Power presents a more diverse version of the Tolkien-era.

Speaking exclusively to Metro.co.uk at the extravagant premiere in London, Sara explained the downside of not seeing people who looked like her on screen.

‘I grew up loving fantasy and I love it to this day but not always seeing myself represented, especially as a child, was sometimes a bit difficult,’ she said.

Sara plays Marigold Brandyfoot in the series(Picture: PA)

The Lord of the Rings movie franchise featured a predominantly white cast (Picture: Warner Bros)

‘That was then, and it was understandable, but it’s great now we’re in 2022 and there’s more faces that are diverse.’

Sara, who plays Marigold Brandyfoot in the drama, added: ‘Whether it be racially or gender or all sorts of minorities, and I just keep thinking of the little girl that I was, she would be so happy to see a face like hers on screen.’

Executive producer Lindsey Weber previously spoke to Vanity Fair about thebacklash the Rings of Power cast has faced, saying: ‘It felt only natural to us that an adaptation of Tolkien’s work would reflect what the world actually looks like.

‘Tolkien is for everyone. His stories are about his fictional races doing their best work when they leave the isolation of their own cultures and come together.’

rumoured price tag of $1billion (£858million) across five planned seasons.

Addressing the whopping budget, Sara told us: ‘I think you will see the money well spent in all the details of the sets and the costume.

’99 per cent of our work was practical, so we were out in nature, they were capturing these big shots which tell a beautiful story.’

She continued: ‘It was really immersive, it literally felt like you were stepping into Middle Earth. The only thing that was challenging was the scale, but then again we had scale doubles.

‘So for me, there was nothing daunting about it. It was such a joy.’